Dad died in train horror

A YOUNG dad who suffered mental problems from smoking cannabis was electrocuted as he tried to get a ‘lift’ into Manchester on top of a freight train. Kashef Ghaffar, 26, died instantly after being hit by 25,000 volts from overhead cables as the train entered the city centre. People saw flames coming from the last carriage of the train as it waited on a bridge.

A YOUNG dad who suffered mental problems from smoking cannabis was electrocuted as he tried to get a ‘lift’ into Manchester on top of a freight train.

Kashef Ghaffar, 26, died instantly after being hit by 25,000 volts from overhead cables as the train entered the city centre.

People saw flames coming from the last carriage of the train as it waited on a bridge.

Kashef, of Kingsway, Burnage, Manchester, was staying with a neighbour after separating from wife Asma. But an inquest heard he was ‘very happy’, having become a dad just a week earlier when she gave birth to a boy.

He had suffered mental health problems in the past and had recently been diagnosed with cannabis-induced psychosis after complaining of hearing voices telling him to kill.

His brother Asif said Kashef had smoked the drug since he was young.

But despite police being called out three times on the days leading up to his death – including on the day itself – he gave no indication that he would harm himself.

The inquest, at Manchester coroner’s court, heard how officers had been called to Kashef’s family home on February 28, 2007, following reports that he was causing a disturbance and demanding to see his son.

He was behaving oddly but left the house peacefully and walked away towards Levensulme railway station, where he climbed on top of the train. Tests on his body revealed traces of alcohol but no cannabis.

Coroner Nigel Meadows said he thought it was ‘coincidence’ that Mr Ghaffar, who was unemployed, had jumped on the train after seeing it as he arrived at the station.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, he said: "I have little doubt that his mental health was severely affected by his consumption of drugs and it was displayed in his irrational behaviour.

"He was simply taking a ride on the train, getting, as it were, a lift into the centre of Manchester.

"I think he was just genuinely unlucky but extremely foolish.

"It just demonstrates yet again the unfortunate consequences of taking drugs."